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Zeus 2EXO
Field Report
August 10,2004
Personal Information:
Leesa Joiner
leesajATgmailDOTcom
Southwestern Maine
42 years old
Female
5'7” (1.7 M)
150 lb (68 kg)
Background:
My camping, hiking and backpacking experience has included trips varying in length from one day hikes to 2-week trips. My experience hiking began with my father, when I was about 6 years old. We hiked along the river pathways in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. During cold weather, I backpack, hike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, go ice fishing and winter camp with friends and family. Although I am not a lightweight backpacker, I am trying to ‘lighten up’ and even have converted to using a hammock while camping. I find that I spend almost as much time outside during the long Maine winters as I do during the summers.
Product Information:
Product: Zeus 2EXO (2 person tent)
Manufacturer: Eureka
Manufacture Date: 2004
Manufacturer URL http://www.eurekatent.com/
Listed Minimum Weight: Tent and poles: 3 lb 10 oz (1.6 kg)
Actual Weight: Tent and poles in stuff sack: 3 lb 14 oz (1.8 kg)
Floor Dimensions: 4 ft 10 in (147 cm) wide x 7 ft 5 in (226 cm) long.
Center Height: 3 ft 6 in (107 cm)
Packed Size: 18 x 7 in (46 x 18 cm)
Poles: 7000 series Aluminum
Tent Walls and Vestibule: 40D ripstop nylon
Tent Floor:70D nylon taffeta
Tent Floor Area: 32.7 sq ft (3.04 sq m)
Vestibule Area: 12.25 sq ft (1.14 sq m)
Description:
The Zeus 2 EXO tent is designed as a single walled, three season tent. It is free standing with a small vestibule. The tent is a light green color, with an exclamation mark on one side. I believe the exclamation mark is Eureka's symbol. There are ventilation openings at the top of the tent and on the lower portion of two sides, which are provided to keep the moisture level down.
The opening into the tent is controlled by two zippers - one across the bottom of the opening, and one that is in the shape of an upside down horseshoe. The screen in the opening provides a large amount of ventilation. The vestibule consists of a piece of tent fabric that continues out from the main tent body and slopes down to the ground. It is held in place by two stakes. The vestibule area is large enough for a pack or a medium sized dog, but not both!
The set up of the tent is extremely easy. I was able to set it up in less than five minutes, which included reading the directions. The poles unfold, the ends fitting together quickly and smoothly. Once opened, one end of a pole sits in the grommet at one corner of the tent. The other end is then placed in the grommet diagonally across from the original one. The same is repeated with the other pole. After this, the vestibule can be staked out. There are carabiners attached to the tent that attach the tent to the poles.
The tent arrived with a bottle of seam sealer, which will hopefully keep moisture out of the tent.
Initial Impressions:
The tent arrived in a long, narrow box. Inside the box was the tent and its stuff sack, poles and stakes, along with their stuff sacks and a container of seam sealer. It was easy to set up and take down. I am impressed by the weight of the tent, and how easily it fits into my pack. My concern is how well it will keep out moisture, as the fabric appears very light and thin. Further testing will clarify this concern.
During the test period so far, I have used the tent on 3 weekend trips in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, along with a weeklong trip in June to the same location. I also spent a few days hiking and camping in central and northern Vermont. I also spent one weekend camping in Maine.
During these trips I have noticed a few things about the Exo2, some good, some not so good. The good features are the ease of set up. Nothing like being able to set up the tent and go to sleep quickly. I really like that there aren’t a lot of pieces to keep track of. As long as I don’t forget the poles, I’m all set. The caribiners stay attached to the tent, easily clipping on to the poles.
On the down side, while backpacking in areas where the daytime temperature is much greater than the night temperature, there is quite a bit of condensation built up inside the tent by morning. The first time this occured the temperature difference was about 23 degrees F ( 13 C). When I woke up in the morning, the inside of the tent fabric had droplets of water on it. There was actually a small puddle in the corner (approx. 3 in. ( 76 mm). At that time I was sharing the tent with my 11 year old son. The next outing, the tempurature difference was only about 16 degrees F ( 9 C). There was still some condensation on the inside walls of the tent, but no puddles. On this trip I was alone in the tent.
After these two trips, the temperature difference was much smaller, and there were no problems with condensation. On warm evenings, it actually felt cool in the tent, without that feeling I get in some heavy tents.
On all the trips, I have been impressed with how well the tent keeps out the Maine State bird - the mosquito! I am careful to zip the tent upon entering and exiting.
I sealed the seams of the tent, using the sealant provided. There has been no visible seepage of water from the seams. Sealing was easy using a small nozzle on the bottle.
I have trips to Ohio and Missouri planned for later in the summer. I plan on using the Exo2 Zeus on all these trips, along with overnight hikes closer to home. I will be observing how well the tent holds up to frequent use, and how well all the tent features work. Because I usually set up a 'base camp' and hike out from there, the tent will be used on overnight and multi-day trips. During these trips, I will be either sleeping alone, with my 9 year old daughter or with my husband. That should give me a good feeling for comfort level and roominess. My husband is 6 ft 4 in ( 1.9 M) which should make for some interesting testing inside the EXO2. The floor of the tent measures 7 ft 5 in ( 2.3 M) , so the question will be- Is 13 inches ( .4M ) enough extra room?
Future Testing Conditions:
The majority of my testing will be done in northern New England, where current day temperatures are in the 60 to 80 F (15 to 32 C) range, with night temperatures falling to the 60s (approx. 15 C ). Over the next few months, the temperatures I backpack in will rise to close to 100 F ( 38 C) at times. Most of my hiking is done below 3000 ft. ( 914 M), but the trips to Mt. Washington will be at over 4000 ft (1219 M). There is a wide range of types of terrain on these hikes. Everything from well maintained trails to hiking through heavily wooded areas. At times, the trails follow the rivers' edges, which makes for some wet hiking also. Some trips will involve backpacking into campsites and at other times I will set up camp and hike out from there.
As I was writing up this report, I decided to set up the tent out behind my house. My daughter wanted to sleep with me in my ‘cool’ tent. We have a small clearing that my kids like to camp in. I set up the tent away from the fire pit, because the kids had lit a fire and I went to sleep before they were done with the marshmallows and giggling. We have had a lot of rain lately and it was the first dry, windless night in a while. When I woke up the next morning I noticed that there were 4 small (pencil eraser sized) holes in the top side of the tent. Unfortunately, the wind picked up some during the night. I have contacted Eureka! to inquire about a patching kit. I was reminded that although it is unfortunate that the tent has these holes, I should be thankful that it didn’t burn. The holes are In my long term report, I will address the response I get from Eureka! and how the patching process goes. Thankfully, these small holes will not affect the overall usefullness of the tent.
I will continue to test the tent’s features over the next few months, looking at durability and condensation issues primarily.
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